Of Books and Wildflowers
by ThePaperLantern
Summary: Had Cedric told anyone of his infatuation, they would have surely scoffed and upon realizing that Cedric was being sincere, promptly sent for the men in white coats. It was unheard of that a promising lad such as Cedric be besotted with a girl like Luna.


Of Books and Wildflowers

"You're nothing short of my everything." --Ralph Block

"Two rolls of parchment on the differences between newt and salamander eyes. Due tomorrow, no exceptions. That will be all for today. Dismissed," droned Professor Snape in his usual monotone.

Sixteen-year old Cedric Diggory sighed as he gathered up his books and made his way out of the dreadfully dismal classroom. _'Two rolls of parchment!' _he thought morosely. As if he didn't have enough work, what with his other classes and quidditch practice.

"Hey, Cedric," called out his good friend, Jacob Masters, "We're gonna go play a game of Exploding Snap. Want to come?"

As tempting as getting his eyebrows singed off sounded, Cedric was forced to decline. "Sorry, mate. I've got an essay to write. Better do it now, before dinner," he said with a smile. Jacob nodded his head, not surprised at Cedric's response. Cedric was, after all, the golden boy of Hufflepuff and as such, he would never allow his grades to slip.

As Cedric made his way to the library, his mind wandered to various subjects that are of small importance and not worth mentioning. What is worth mentioning, however, is that upon entering the library, Mr. Diggory's lovely chocolate eyes immediately spotted a certain person, whose name will be disclosed later on, and he quite suddenly found his feet moving towards said person, much to the boy's dismay.

Thankfully, his brain seemed to catch up to his feet after a few steps and he was able to avoid thoroughly embarrassing himself. For the moment, at least. With a speed that would have made the quidditch-obsessed Gryffindor captain, Oliver Wood, burn with jealously, Cedric darted away from the previously mentioned person and into a random aisle, which just so happened to be the section that housed the potions' books. Cedric smiled at his luck and began skimming the shelves for two books he knew would help him write his essay. With any luck, he would be able to get his mind off the tiny person that was sitting a mere ten feet away from him.

After a few minutes of scouring the shelves, Cedric emerged from the aisle carrying two books, but for the second time that day, he was forced to stop most ungraciously. His progress was halted by none other than the person he both longed to hide from and to hold in his arms.

Luna Lovegood.

Had Cedric told anyone of his infatuation, they would have surely scoffed and, upon realizing that Cedric was in fact being serious, promptly sent for the men in white coats.

It was unheard of that such an accomplish young man would be besotted with such an odd, and frankly young, girl. She was the polar opposite of the popular and well-liked boy Not to mention she was Cedric's younger by over three years!

Of course, Cedric had already considered all these circumstances and thus convinced himself that pursuing the object of his affections would be futile and very much frowned upon.

_'But it wouldn't hurt to simply talk to her,' _Cedric reasoned with himself. He had, after all, spoken to the girl on several occasions and nothing too dreadful had ever occurred. Quite the contrary, actually. All three of their conversations had been rather pleasant, at least for Mr. Diggory.

Taking a deep, fortifying breath, Cedric casually walked over to the table where Luna was sitting. "Do you mind if I sit?" he asked in a polite manner that would have made a Victorian proud. Luna looked up at him, a faraway look in her eyes.

"Pardon," she asked. Cedric, being the kind gentlemen that his father had raised repeated his question in the same polite manner he had used before. "Sure," the blonde-haired girl responded.

"Thanks!" chirped Cedric cheerily.

Just as he was about to take the seat next to Luna, the aforementioned girl yelped, "No! Not there! You'll kill the drooblebear!" Thankfully for Cedric (and the drooblebear), he managed to stop himself just in time and took the seat across from Luna.

"What's a drooblebear?" he asked with a grin, fully expecting a long and tedious explanation from Luna. Luna, of course, did not disappoint.

"A drooblebear is a small mammal that likes to live indoors, preferably where it's quite," she explained. "Despite what their names suggest, the drooblebear bears no relations to bears. They're actually more similar to wolves than bears."

Cedric smiled at Luna, mesmerized by her. She truly was special. "Are they dangerous?" he asked, not thinking too much on the question. He simply wanted to here her sweet, melodic voice.

"Not unless they're angered. She - the drooblebear sitting next to me, that is - would have been very angry if you had sat on her. She might have even used her razor-sharp claws."

Cedric glanced nervously at the empty chair. He wasn't entirely sure if Luna's stories were true or not, but he wisely chose not to risk it. Sighing, he looked back up at Luna. She was beautiful. Young, but beautiful.

Silently, Cedric continued to stare at her for some time, pondering on his affection for the small, strange girl that smelled of books and wildflowers, which wasn't all that surprising considering the fact that she was surrounded by books and had a odd-looking pink flower tucked behind her ear.

"How are you doing in your classes?" he asked after a few minutes elapsed in silence.

Luna slowly looked up from her book. "Alright, I suppose. I'm doing rather well in charms and defense, but miserably in potions. Have you seen my socks?" she asked quite suddenly. Upon noticing Cedric's confused countenance, she elaborated. "All my socks are missing. I think someone must have taken them. Pity, they had very nice designs on them."

Cedric, however, did not hear her last comment. All he could think was that someone was treating his beloved unfairly. He was no fool. He knew that Luna was often called "Loony Lovegood" and he knew that several of the students made a game of stealing her belongings, but that didn't stop the burst of anger from scourging through the usually sanguine-tempered boy. As Luna chatted amiably, not once realizing that her companion was not listening to a word she said, Cedric was busy planning all the ways he would track down her belongings and make the thieves pay.

Luna's dreamy voice brought him back to reality. "Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked, her eyes wide and curious.

Cedric was so surprised by her unexpected question that it took five whole minutes of choking and stuttering before he was finally able to force out a choked, "No."

"Oh. That's too bad. I was going to suggest that you give her a necklace made from a Dewberry plant. Dewberry's are known for the aphrodisiac properties." Cedric choked once more. "Are you alright?" Luna asked.

"F-F-Fine."

"Good. They haven't gotten to you yet."

"Who?"

"The nargles," she stated simply. Cedric looked at her incredulously. She was so sure of herself, so brave to do and say exactly what she wanted without worrying what others thought of her. He desperately wished he could be like her, to be brave enough to tell his father that he didn't want to be the Minister of Magic, to tell his friends that he wanted to quit the quidditch team, to ask out Luna Lovegood despite the sizable age difference.

And why shouldn't he. What would a few year's difference make when they were twenty, thirty, or forty? None whatsoever. Looking at Luna as she smiled at something she read, Cedric took another deep breath and opened his mouth to ask Luna a very important question.

"It's dinnertime," Luna stated before Cedric got a word out.

"Huh?" he asked in a most ungentlemanly manner.

"It's dinnertime," Luna repeated. "I've enjoyed talking to you. You're very kind and nice to look at." Cedric couldn't help but smile at her comment. "I'll see you later," she said as she stood up and gathered her things.

The courage that Cedric had gathered had disappeared, but the silly smile on his face remained. "Okay," he murmured quietly. Luna waved goodbye, took a few steps, and turned back around.

"Here," she said, handing him a small, round rock, "This is to protect you from the Sniveligs." Cedric took the rock silently, his brilliant smile never once fading. Luna smiled one last time at him, turned around, and walked away, her pink flower bouncing and her bracelets jingling.

Cedric smiled. "You're nothing short of my everything," he murmured quietly. Someday, he would be brave enough to tell his father what he really wanted; Someday, he would tell his friends that he had too much to do and had to quit quidditch; Someday, he would tell Luna Lovegood how he felt.

But for now, all Cedric could do was to put the rock Luna had given him in his pocket and run to catch up to the charmingly odd girl. "Hey, Luna!" he called out. Though she had been halfway down the corridor, she stop and turned around. "Would you like to walk with me to the Great Hall?" he asked hesitantly. Luna smiled and waited for him to catch up to her. Together, they made their way to the Great Hall, parting only to go to their respective tables. Throughout the entire dinner, Cedric kept looking up and stealing glances at Luna.

"Someday..." he whispered.

* * *

A/N: Originally published at HPPF under the penname SummerBabe. I fairly certain it was also published here under my old penname, midnighthorrors. This was originally written for the quote and a ship challenge at the HPFF forums.


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